March 2013

March 21, 2013

This morning, my son Christopher, set out on an adventure he has been dreaming of for years...he is thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. From the first time he hiked sections of the trail with his Boy Scout troop when he was 12 years old, preparing for Philmont Boy Scout Camp, he has been talking about this. He has been training since he graduated from college last fall.

The AT is 2,181 miles, and runs from Georgia to Maine. To "thru-hike", means to hike the entire trail in one trip. It will take him 5-6 months of hiking every day to reach this goal. We all drove him to his starting point at Springer Mountain, Georgia this morning (daddy and sister took the day off from work to go), and we hiked the first mile with him. You actually have to hike one mile UP to the top of the mountain to sign in and officially begin, so we hiked up one mile, then hiked down for his first "official" mile. It was 21 degrees when we began hiking, and yes, he was wearing shorts! I was freezing!

The view from the top of Springer Mountain...

When we hiked back down the mountain, it was time to say goodbye. I was dreading this part, but he was so excited and prepared, that I didn't cry.

His beginning stats: he weighs 210 pounds, and his pack is 42 pounds.

He has a friend hiking with him, and that makes me feel a little better:) I will be sending re-supplies to drop locations, and I plan on meeting up with them once or twice along the way. I will be picking them up in Maine when they finish in September.

We watched them hike into the distance until we could see them no more...

Be safe and have fun, my brave strong boy! Until we meet again...xo mom

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